Central, Coe in top-10 tussle

For one of the few, if not only, times in Iowa Conference
football history, two top-10 ranked squads will clash in a league
game when No. 7 Central College travels to Cedar Rapids to face No.
9 Coe College.

Game time is 1 p.m. at Clark Field.

Both clubs are 3-0 overall after passing their first conference
tests last Saturday. Central raced past Dubuque 34-8 in a
lightning-shortened game while Coe thrashed Luther on the road,
42-19.

Rankings—The top-10 rankings are
according to D3football.com's top 25. Saturday's game
is the first Iowa Conference top-10 matchup since D3football.com
issued its first poll in 2003. The contest doesn't quite
attain top-10 status according to the opening American Football
Coaches Association poll of the season that was released Monday.
Central is No. 7 in that as well but Coe opens at No. 11.

Central is in the D3football.com rankings for the 30th time
since the first 2003 poll, the most of any league school Wartburg
appeared in the rankings 14 times and this week Coe is listed for
the third time. It's the 13th consecutive week that Central
is in the top 25.

On the air, on the Web—Trevor Castle will
call the play-by-play of Saturday's game on KRLS-FM (92.1)
and the broadcast can also be accessed through Central's
website at www.central.edu/athletics or
through www.kniakrls.com.

The series--Coe defeated Central three straight
times (2003-05) but the Dutch took the last four and hold a 12-6-2
lead in the all-time series.

The Kohawks--Central stymied the Kohawks at
Pella last fall, 24-6, but then Coe caught fire, winning its next
eight games, including a road upset of St. John's (Minn.) in
the NCAA Division III playoffs. Fourteen starters are back from
that squad.

Junior quarterback Brad Boyle was the league MVP last season and
engineers a high-octane offense that leads the conference in
scoring (45.0 points), total offense (503.0 yard), passing offense
(341.7 yards) passing efficiency (158.6) and first downs
(27.0).

Boyle tops the conference in passing, averaging 312.3 yards per
game. He's completed 56 of 87 passes (64.4 percent) with two
interceptions and six touchdowns. Saturday at Luther he passed for
three touchdowns and ran for two more. Senior Tyler Takes has 16
pass receptions for 228 yards and three TDs. Junior Nick Ratchford
has seven receptions and reached the 100-catch mark for his career
Saturday.

Sophomore Brendan Leiran has run for 319 yards on 60 carries
with five touchdowns, ranking second in the league in rushing
yardage.

"They're well-coached and run a good scheme,"
coach Jeff McMartin said. "Their players play extremely hard.
They're battlers who keep coming at you.

"Defensively, they're very sound and very physical.
They have a lot of talent at every position.

"Their offense is really run well. They have an
exceptional quarterback who threw just one interception all year
last year. Their offensive concept fits him to a T.

"They win at home, they win on the road and they're
playoff-tested. They're legit in every way."

Progress—McMartin holds the Dubuque
offense in high regard and consequently was impressed with his team
limiting the Spartans to two field goals and a safety Saturday at
Pella. Central outgained Dubuque 329-238 yards, giving up just 43
rushing yards. The Dutch lead the conference in rushing defense
(33.3 yards).

"We took a good step," McMartin said. "I
thought the guys came out very focused. But we need an even better
effort this week in practice and a better effort
Saturday."

The Dutch still made some costly errors, with six penalties and
a misfired snap on a punt attempt that resulted in a safety.

"Football is a game of mistakes and the team that makes
the fewest typically wins," McMartin said. "We've
got to be a team ready to play for 60 minutes."

Dutch numbers—Quarterback Nate
Snead (junior, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) ranks second in
the conference behind Boyle in total offense (292.0 yards) and is
third in rushing (85.0 yards). Running back Ross
Doehrmann (sophomore, Williamsburg) is tied for fourth
(74.0 yards) after gaining a career-high 131 yards on 21 carries
with one score Saturday.

Snead has completed 44 of 66 passes for 621 yards with four
interceptions and four touchdowns. Jeremy Snead (junior,
Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) tops Central's receivers
with 15 catches for 237 yards and two touchdowns.

Lightning round—Saturday's game is
believed to be Central's first ever shortened by lightning,
ending with 8:20 left in the fourth quarter. The Dutch have had at
least two other games delayed by lightning, most recently in a 21-0
win at Loras, Sept. 24, 2005. That contest was halted for two
hours, four minutes.

Notes—Kurtis Brondyke (senior, Clinton)
has only punted five times, still not enough to qualify for the
league rankings. He's averaging 42.8 yards per boot with two
inside the 20-yard line. He pinned Dubuque on its 3-yard line on
the first Spartans possession of the second half… Linebacker
Greg Best (senior, Clive, West Des Moines Valley
HS) had a team-high eight tackles Saturday and leads with
21 for the season. Strong safety Jake Petersen (junior,
Gladbrook, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) has 17…The Dutch
still don't have an interception in 2010…Dubuque was
the first Central opponent to be kept out of the end zone through
three games. The Dutch have yielded only two rushing touchdowns
while going up against what McMartin regards as three effective
offensive clubs …Saturday was Central's first
turnover-free 2010 contest…A 50-yard fumble return by
linebacker Patrick Kelley (junior, Eagle Grove)
was among Central's longest in several years but well shy of
Matt Newland's school-record 87-yard return against Buena
Vista in 1994.